Page 171 of Halfblood Deceived

The three of them stared at the dead man in mute horror for almost a minute.

Aella peeled her eyes off the grotesque display, noticing Kamilla cradling her injured hand. “Are you alright?”

Kam frowned at the burn mark between her thumb and forefinger. “Yes. I will be.” She nicked her other thumb with her fangs and applied a few drops of blood to the burn mark, letting out a relieved breath. Then she banished the blood with a casual flicker of topaz magic.

Zeydan ran a hand through his hair. “What the fuck just happened?”

“I’m not sure,” Kamilla admitted. “But I don’t like it.”

“That’s the same man who said horrible things about me and Diana last week,” Aella said. Her teeth chattered like that time she fell into the church’s fountain when she was little.

She felt no pity for the man lying dead on the ground with foam coming out of his mouth, not after the horrible threats he’d made, but somehow that was worse.

Zeydan took off his coat and put it over Aella’s shoulders. His familiar scent and warmth enveloped her, but the shaking didn’t subside completely.

Kamilla gave Aella a worried look. “What? Why hadn’t you mentioned it?”

Aella swallowed hard, shrugging. “It didn’t seem important.” Still, she found herself telling Kam and Zeydan the story.

By the time she had ended, two of Kamilla’s men had entered the alley and taken away the body, and Dyson was standing a few feet behind Kam.

Aella’s gaze stayed on the foam and blood stain, however.

A solid arm wrapped tentatively around her shoulders. Aella sighed, leaning into Zeydan’s embrace, and tilted her head up, meeting worried green eyes. “Do you think he was bluffing about there being more people who feel the same way about Diana and Aroth?”

“No,” Zeydan said reluctantly. He pulled Aella closer to his body, running his hand up and down her arm, and met Kamilla’s gaze. “Have you heard any rumors about discontent witches?”

She shook her head. “Not recently. Years ago, there was a small group that tried to overthrow me and Kerian, calling us both abominations for being… well, us. They claimed we had no right to wield our mother’s inherited witch power. That we had stolen it from her clan somehow.” Kam scoffed. “We know some hate demons and gargoyles indiscriminately, of course. But there hasn’t been an organized hate group in decades.”

“I think we should look into the possibility of the resurgence of these groups,” Dyson said, tone business-like.

“I agree,” Zeydan said.

Aella could practically see wheels turning in Kamilla’s head.

The vampire princess sighed. “Much as it pains me to be forced to deal with this fucking bullshit again, I think so, too.” She rolled her shoulders, looking weary. “As if we didn’t have enough shit to deal with already.”

Aella chewed the inside of her mouth. First, the gargoyles were knocking at their doors, and now the possibility of a group of witches threatening Diana, Aroth, and her. Her stomach was knotted with concern as she thought about Vaz. He wasn’t as powerful as Aroth, whose aura made Aella’s heart skip a beat.

“I’ll help you investigate as well, Kamilla,” Zeydan offered.

Kamilla launched a look at Aella. “Very well, but not tonight.” She gave Aella’s shoulder a squeeze and placed her palm gently against the burn marks, casting a flash of soothing, warm magic that felt like the caress of a feather.

Aella sighed. “Thank you.”

Kam nodded. “Go home. I’ll have someone take you—”

“I can’t just leave,” Aella protested. “I don’t want the others to accuse me of receiving preferential treatment.”

Brittany had already suggested it once, and Aella had felt embarrassed and squirmy. She didn’t want a repetition.

Zeydan, Kamilla, and Dyson gave her perplexed looks.

“Someone just assaulted you and potentially tried to kill you, Aella,” Zeydan remarked. “I’m sure that’s more than a good enough reason to go home early.”

“You can take the rest of the week off as well,” Kamilla said, lifting a finger when Aella opened her mouth. “Rest for at least two days. Boss’s orders.”

Aella wrinkled her nose. “I need to get my coat and let Diana know I’m leaving—”

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